When Kevin Fiege Almost Quit Marvel
The question of diversity in all forms of media has really hit the forefront in recent years, with more people questioning why there isn’t more of it in literature, film, TV, etc. But then you have the other end, and there are still some people in the media industry don’t see that anything needs changed. Hopefully, the discussion of diversity, and those pushing for it, will outvote those who don’t believe anything needs to be changed. Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President, is one of those who believes that changes need to be made to make the media industry, and particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), more diverse in their characters and headlined movies and shows.
According to Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk since 2012 in the MCU), Kevin Feige was very close to walking away from Marvel due to Marvel Entertainment Chairman and former CEO Ike Perlmutter’s push against more diversity in the Marvel movies and shows. In Mark Ruffalo’s interview with The Independent, it was talked about that Marvel has been criticized for their lack of LGBTQ+ representation, which other superhero movies/shows such as DC’s Supergirl series do quite well with their representation. Mark Ruffalo told a story about a conversation he had around 2012 with Kevin Feige. At this time, Feige was about to go talk to Disney about why on earth the MCU had no female-led superhero movies, which again, other major series, such as DC, does have. This is what Mark Ruffalo said:
“When we did the first Avengers, Kevin Feige told me, 'Listen, I might not be here tomorrow. He’s like, 'Ike [Isaac Perlmutter, Disney’s largest shareholder at the time] does not believe that anyone will go to a female-starring superhero movie. So if I am still here tomorrow, you will know that I won that battle.”
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This conversation that Kevin Feige had ended up being a big turning point for Marvel Studios. It did take a little bit of time, but Marvel is slowly introducing superheroes that Feige has wanted represented in their stories.
Mark Ruffalo continued:
"Because Kevin wanted black superheroes, women superheroes, LGBT superheroes. He changed the whole Marvel universe. We now have a gay superhero on the way, we have black superheroes, we have female superheroes -- Scarlett Johansson has her movie coming out, we have Captain Marvel, they are doing She-Hulk next. No other studio is being that inclusive on that level. They have to, though. This is the f***ing world."
Of course, since 2012, Marvel has started the Black Panther storyline, Black Widow and Captain Marvel were released, and they have introduced the first openly LGBTQ+ superhero in the new Eternals movie (arriving in theaters November 6). In the last 5-10 years, the MCU has really become much more diverse than they have ever been. And much of that is due in part to Kevin Feige’s mission.
Hollywood (and the rest of the media industries) still has quite the battle to fight for diversity in their media and within the people who work for the companies. But thanks to Kevin Feige and others’ efforts, perhaps Marvel’s example that diversity in film makes stories even stronger and better will show others that diversity in stories, staffing, casting, etc. is the future.
Kevin Feige has been a part of the Marvel community since X-Men in the early 2000s. In 2007, he became the President of Marvel Studios. And one year later, the MCU was officially launched with the release of Iron Man. Since then, Kevin Feige has been a powerhouse, producing every single MCU film since 2008. This past October, he added to his role of producer with the title of Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment. And at this point, after slowly getting the diversity he wanted, he does not seem to have any plans to leave the Marvel community.
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Source(s): CBR, The Independent